


Sic transit gloria

by Ecc0craft



Series: Overwatch Hub [7]
Category: Crysis Series (Video Games), Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Becoming a Leader, Betrayal, Diary/Journal, Gen, History has its eyes on you, Omnic Crisis, Rebellion, Soldier Enhancement Program Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 01:16:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16398620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ecc0craft/pseuds/Ecc0craft
Summary: “The SEP rebellion and the impact it had on the Omnic crisis is lost to history, but I was there and I remember. A Soldier a Prophet and a Fir tree.”— Dr. Sebastian Klein





	Sic transit gloria

**Author's Note:**

> Yes there are references to other games in this because I just can’t help myself.

To the Reader of this document,  
By the time anyone finds this it is quite possible that everyone involved in the events bellow is deceased. At least, I know that I will be. Do not let that discourage you, it is an interesting part of history, one you will not find in any of the public archives. It is a story of the passing of a torch and the subtle turn of a conflict that threatened to wipe out our existence.

Now, to set the stage...

The Omnic crisis is in full swing and the members of the Soldier Enhancement Program still found the time to kill each other. It started as a select few subjects showing signs of instability. Chems began to fail and dozens of subjects were recalled for examination. Then a madman took control of those weakened subjects, turning them against their creators. Before long there was a full-blown rebellion of angry genetically enhanced killers. They were determined to destroy everything that we had built, killing anyone who got in their way.

It’s loud in the bunker that we, the loyalists, retreated to after the rebels hit the London Headquarters. The military police are shouting at the small number of test subjects that they managed to extract before everything collapsed. No one trusts each other and tempers are high. Through all this madness, I am trying to keep my head down. Using a small rag, I clean the cracked lenses of my glasses to distract myself. The full weight of what I have just experienced is beginning to dawn on me. As is the hopelessness of the current situation. 

The splitting headache from nicotine withdrawal is not helping. Up until this point in my life I have been of a nervous disposition. My reliance on the drug, once a way of coping, is now a handicap that threatens to unravel me.

I itch at my lip anxiously and hug a briefcase full of medical supplies to my chest. It’s the only thing I was able to grab with the little time there was to evacuate. Running from gunfire as my research lab was decimated was bad enough but what bothers me more is the tension built up from waiting. The man who has ended up in charge, a Captain Wallis, is only a few years my senior and dreadfully unprepared to handle this kind of disaster. His inexperience is evident with his pacing around and shouting into his communicator for anyone to respond to our distress call. No one is answering and his temper is hot. The other MPs all have their firearms out and look intensely at the 7 recalled SEP soldiers.

The subjects are noticeably calmer than the Military police guarding them. There is a young man with a shaved head, wearing cargo pants and a black vest, who seems to be keeping them all in line. He even talks down several subjects getting riled up by the tension. He tries the same with the MPs but Captain Wallis gives him an earful. I don’t know him as one of my patients and assume he must belong to Ross or Halsey.

I must be showing my stress since I feel a large armored hand pat me on the back reassuringly. It’s Tannenbaum, the Lady crusader, the patient I was working on before everything fell to pieces. Never in my years as Ross’s intern have I thought I’d have the opportunity to work with one of these German knights. I just wish the circumstances were better.

“Alles gut.” She’s amazingly gentle despite her hulking size and smiles at me just as sweetly. How I imagine a mother would comfort a scared child. It is an alien gesture to me but I nod at her gratefully, despite my nerves being far from settled.

“Where’s the Major?” I hear one subject whisper to another.

“He’ll be here.”

“What if they got him?”

“What will we ever do without him?!”

“Shh, don’t say things like that.”

I lean forward curiously because I have no idea who they are referring to. It might just be delusional chatter from the combination of trauma and their failing chems. Still, I hope that it isn’t. If there is a Major out there then he would outrank Wallis and maybe handle the situation better.

Wallis is still yelling but I can hear some of his men asking about eliminating the subjects. There is no way to tell the difference between rouges and loyal subjects so some MPs are suggesting that they shoot all of them. Fear has its nasty way of making reasonable men into murderers. I have no time to worry about the safety of the subjects, because it is my blood that they want next.

“The ones who created these abominations are responsible for all of this!” The captain turns suddenly to me and draws his gun. I’m not a soldier, I have never held a weapon in my life, so naturally I freeze in terror. Tannenbaum steps in front of me to shield me from the gun and Wallis orders her to get out of the way.

She does not budge, staring him down defiantly. “Nein.”

“All this is his fault! Now move before I decommission you too!”

That isn’t true or at least it isn’t fully true. I am responsible for these super soldiers but I am far from the only one responsible. I work with cyber enhancement mostly and only know the bare bones of the genetic chemistry that makes them what they are. Ross and Halsey are the experts in that field and are far away from all of this. Halsey is MIA since London and Ross is in Egypt. There is also Gould in America but his knowledge is more kin to mine.

Wallis doesn’t know this or more likely doesn’t care. He cocks his gun, taking aim at the crusader’s exposed head. And I lose my breath.

"Stop! We can't afford to be killing each other!" A subject speaks up with the Captain distracted. 

I almost faint with relief as Wallis turns away from the lady crusader and instead directs his fury at the subjects again. "Which one of you, grunts said that?!"

The group of subjects look among themselves. Some look scared, others angry and the rest look completely zoned out. The offending subject finally steps forward, the young man in the vest that I observed earlier. He is tall and muscular like the other super soldiers but dreadfully pale with dark circles under his eyes and visible blue veins near his lips and around his temples; telltale symptoms of an imbalance in his chems. He must have been in the middle of a treatment when London was attacked, going by the nodes and wires that dot his shaved head and exposed arms.

The MPs find the subject's appearance just as unsettling and Wallis is quick to turn his gun on him. "You! You're one of them, aren't you?!" He stutterers as two of his men move to restrain the subject. 

The soldier's shoulders tense but he doesn't move to resist. Even though with his enhancements he could easily overpower them. "You must be mistaken." He says calmly but with the slightest growl in the back of his throat. "Put away your gun."

The Captain takes the subject's behavior as a threat and puts the barrel of his pistol to the young man's forehead. "You can't fool anybody lookin' like that, Traitor!"

"Wait, Don't!" I shout, still peeking out from behind the lady crusader. I surprise even myself by speaking up and regret it as a coward does. The MPs stop and look at me so I rapidly try to explain. "He's not one of the rebels! He's having a reaction to the serum, he's sick! Not dangerous!"

"Then he's on the decommission list, just like you." The Captain grunts with his finger poised to pull the trigger.

"Don't hurt him!" Tannenbaum moves forward. She doesn't get another word out before she begins a coughing fit and chokes out a mouthful of blood. She falls to one knee but doesn't break eye contact. "Lay a hand on ANY of them and you will have ME to deal with!"

"Don't Tannenbaum!" The pale subject says. The veins around his blue eyes darken as slightly more color is pumped into his face.

I can hear Wallis suck in a laugh. "You? You can barely stand up! What good are you?!" He turns to address all the subjects in the hall. "What good are any of you defective rejects?! You're not soldiers! You're overgrown lab rats that have outlived their usefulness!"

A wave of anger and unease comes over the small group. I am absolutely certain that one of them will attack any moment and this will all end in a hail of bullets. I think I know exactly which one when i see a woman with strawberry blonde hair and showing similar chem symptoms move into a lunging position.

The pale subject sees her too. “67! Stand down!” The other subject flinches but obeys cautiously. "Their orders are only to terminate hostile test subjects and the doctors that set them loose."

"Shut it!" The increasingly agitated Captain orders.

"You heard what he said, He said we were useless!" The woman snarls angrily. “They have orders to Kill us!"

"Stand down. If they did, we all would have been shot in the back without a chance to fight back."

"Why you-" Captain Wallis is cut off mid-sentence. Something I find quite satisfying after the fact.

"You'd just prefer us to fight you; You're afraid we'll lose control like the others...If we attack you your fear won't be misplaced. You’re just waiting for one of us to give you a reason to start shooting.” The subject observes shrewdly. The two men holding him exchange nervous looks before the subject continues. "However, since you've been waving around that gun, threatening everyone here, I must carry out my orders."

"YOUR orders?!" Wallis shouts.

"Colonel Downs is dead and the London headquarters is compromised, that puts us all on the Winter contingency. Our orders are to rally with our scattered forces, Command falls to Colonel Down's successor, Commander Gabriel Reyes. He's the one who gives the orders now, not you."

Tannenbaum rises to her feet and the other subjects murmur among themselves. Even I know Reyes, he’s a warfare savant if there is such a thing. His missions have a near perfect record of success and his prowess in combat borders on myth. 

"Reyes is probably dead in the Egyptian desert right now!" 

Just as Wallis finishes his statement he is struck and disarmed by Tannenbaum. He lets out a panicked yell, looking to his subordinates for help the three in the back raise their guns but the two others have let go of the pale subject and are now standing on his side.

Both sides stare down the other and I brace myself for the fight that is going to break out but the sound of heavy boots gets everyone’s attention. All eyes fix on the entrance and now I fear that we have been found by the rebels. To my shock, a man in a nano suit is the one who enters. All the subjects fitted with the nano tech were supposed to be in Korea. The only reason one would be here is chem destabilization.

The subjects see him and step into attention. The pale soldier raises a salute relief written on his face. “Major Barns, sir!”

“What’s going on here?” The armored man asks. The red visor of his helmet rises up revealing a weary face that I recognize. Subject 80, the man known as:

“Prophet! Arrest these traitors!” Wallis, still in the crusader’s clutches, screams.

Prophet raises an eyebrow but doesn’t look remotely interested in stopping the Armored woman. “Everything Alright, Annamaria?”

“Just protecting these men, Laurence. He means to kill them.” She replies crisply. There is a degree of familiarity between them that I find endearing.

“That true?” Prophet breaths, addressing the MPs standing with their guns still trained.

“Orders are to secure or eliminate hostiles.” One answers.

Prophet narrows his dark eyes, bloodshot and yellowing from sickness. “The only hostiles I see is your boss.” The men waver but Prophet rumbles. “So, Secure him!”

“You bastards!” Wallis shouts as he is restrained by his own men.

With the yelling Captain taken away I let out a breath that I forgot I was holding. Prophet scans the room of subjects, eyes stopping in front of the pale man who had first spoken up. “Hey, Blue eyes! What’s your name, son?”

The man clicks his heals together at attention. “Subject 76, Sir.”

76 is not much of a name. I am not sure why he won’t give a real one until it dawns on me that the rebels could target the loyalist families if they knew their identities. It was one of the reasons that all the data on the subjects in the HQ was wiped. That, and so that the formulas to the SEP serums would not fall into enemy hands. 

Prophet blinks as he realizes this as well. “Like your privacy? Fine, I’ll call you Blue.”

“You’re not the first sir.” 76 replies quietly. This offhand comment sets off a light in my head. I remember him now, Reyes’s Lieutenant from Overwatch. It explains how he knows so much about who command falls to.

“Walk with me, Blue. Let’s discuss the winter contingency.” Prophet orders as he gestures to the door with his shoulder. Before he leaves, he points to the MPs still in the corner. “Watch them, Tannenbaum.”

“Affirmative.”

They don’t go far. I can still hear and see them at the end of the hall. I’m just relieved Major Barns arrived when he did. Maybe we have a fighting chance if Prophet is here to lead us.

“You’re part of Overwatch, aren’t you?” Prophet asks to witch 76 nods. “They went silent on the Anubis mission three days ago. Odds aren’t good that Reyes is still alive.”

“He’s alive. Gabe and the others don’t go down easy.” An understatement if Reyes’s reputation is to be believed.

“Then you intend to group up with him in Egypt.” Prophet says thoughtfully. “Trouble is Reyes isn’t the only one in need of aid. Ross and Gould are still in trouble. The rouge subjects will probably come for them next.”

76 grunts in acknowledgement. “Ross was with Reyes when last I checked. What about Gould?”

“He’s in New York, apparently he’s found a weakness with the Omnium there. That’s where I’m going.” Prophet is stoic but a look of worry crosses 76’s face and my own.

“You’re not coming with us?” He asks. I feel faint again, the grip of hopelessness taking hold. Prophet just arrived and now he was abandoning us.

“Ceph, is on my kill list, we might be fighting ourselves right now but we all need to remember we’re in the middle of a crisis.” Prophet says. “With the rouges on a killing spree Gould’s extract could be walking into a trap. Someone needs to warn them.”

“You’re the senior officer!” 76 barks. “You can’t just leave!”

“Well as much as I love being in charge, I can’t be in two places at once. Destiny is a bitch and someone needs to step up to the plate!” The armored man places a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “It will be up to you, son. These men already look up to you, now be the leader we all need you to be.”

76 stands there speechless for a few seconds before he nods. “I... I can do that sir.”

“Good man. I’ll travel with you until we regroup with Paris, then we part ways.” Prophet glances down the hall to myself and Tannenbaum. “Take Dr. Klein and Annamaria with you to Egypt, you’ll need the support.”

The two men come back into the main room. The other subjects and the MPs look to them expectantly. 76 is the one who speaks first, explaining the plan. I continue to itch my lip, a bundle of anxiety now that I am expected to be a field medic. I have no training and the closest I’ve been to combat was at the London base. Tannenbaum is there again to comfort me, kneeling down so that her eyes are level with mine.

“I am your shield.” She tells me. “Stay by my side and I won’t let anything happen to you.”

And I believe her.

“Gather what supplies you can. Major say there’s an airfield near us where we can get a ride. We’re moving out!” 76 orders just as an explosion rattles the bunker.

“They found us...” I realize, breathing in all the courage I can muster.

“Damn...” Prophet grunts. The visor sliding down over his face. “Everyone make a run for the airfield, I’ll keep them busy.”

"But sir--" 76 protests.

"We're out of time!" Prophet shouts sprinting to the surface.

"We will come back for you." 76 shouts after him as the Major disappears.

The rest of us leave out an underground tunnel that opens half a mile away. All the subjects run at full speed, the tunnel vibrating with their powerful strides. The MP's follow but give up on trying to keep pace. I have to cling to the back of the lady crusader or else be left behind. She is still sick and I can hear how labored her breathing is compared to the others but that does not slow her. I see sunlight and we burst to the surface, continuing to the airfield without slowing.

When we reach the airfield there are only small fighters left and one larger drop ship. 76 directs several subjects to the fighters and brings those remaining to the larger ship. The explosions can be seen over the hill, getting closer each second.

"Shit...Does anyone know how to fly one of these?" 76 asks, pointing at the complicated control panel in the ship cockpit.

Well, certainly. Of everyone here, someone must know how. A minute passes and the subjects remain speechless. None, everyone here is a soldier, not a pilot. The pilots we have don’t know the controls to anything but small craft.

"I can." I announce when no one else speaks up. Yes, I am not capable of fighting or providing cover but I can fly this ship. I have the training but have never flown outside of simulations. The frightened subjects do not have to know that detail of course.

"Take a seat, Doc. Everyone else strap in. It could be rough." 76 directs two more subjects to the side guns and addresses the MPs panting at the outside of the ship. "Mount up."

"What? You're trusting us even after what the Captain did?" One asks. Wallis and the MPs that sided with him have disappeared and I hope they stay that way.

"Major Barns entrusted command to me and I am getting everyone out of here." 76 says. "Even you."

After brief hesitation, I manage to start the drop ship. The massive engines roar to life and I can feel the power in the machine at my fingertips, so different from the simulations. 

"Ready for take off, sir!" I say from the pilot seat, ignoring all doubts I have about my ability to fly.

"Activate forward shields and ready weapons. We're going to back up Prophet." 76 orders then talks through an ear piece he fastens to his head. “Fighters, take escort formation and watch our rear.”

I go through the motions of the take off sequence and lift the craft off the ground as steady as I can. Conference returns to me as I move the ship forward like I practiced so diligently. I may not know war or what it’s like to fight in a battle, but I do know machines.

As we fly over the hills of where our bunker was, the rebels are all occupied with a single figure creating havoc among their forces. Prophet uses his suit for extra speed and stealth. He comes out of cloak to take down one man before disappearing, only to pop up again to take down another. He is impressive but only one soldier and using the suit so much is draining to the battery. He reappears one last time and falls to one knee in exhaustion. The rebels quickly surround him and open fire to punch through his armor. He holds up his arms to shield his face and I see the suit’s scales morph into a thicker layer.

“76! The nano suit is in maximum armor! He has thirty seconds of invulnerability before they punch through!” I shout from my seat.

Thankfully, 76 doesn’t need any further explanation. “Gunners open fire on Barns’s position.”

67 pauses. “But—”

“Twenty seconds!” I reiterate as I make a loop to give them a better shot.

The gunners open fire on the rebels below. Covering them and Prophet in a hail of bullets. The rounds bounce off the armor harmlessly but the hostile forces are decimated. It’s surprising how desensitized to the carnage I feel as I fly lower. 76 orders the gunners to stop, then leans out the side door with his arm outstretched.

“Jump, Major!” He shouts as Prophet comes out of max armor.

With the last of his suit’s power, Prophet makes a charged jump and catches 76’s hand. The entire airship tilts with the weight of the suit and Tannenbaum has to shift to act as a counter balance. 76 groans in pain as his shoulder is nearly dislocated. He grits his teeth and curls his arm to pull Prophet inside. Prophet has to lean on him for support as he slides up his visor and gasps for breath.

“Who’s idea was that?” The Major pants. “Because that was genius. Risky, but genius.”

“The doctor knew about your suit.” 76 replies. “Also knows how to fly the ship.”

“See, told you he’d be useful.” Prophet chuckles, lightly patting 76’s arm.

“Thank you, sir.” I wave, eagerly taking the compliment.

“Both hands on the controls.” Tannenbaum reminds me and I correct myself.

“So, our next stop is Paris?” I ask as Prophet approaches the cockpit.

The major snorts and punches in coordinates that I know to be nowhere near France. I look up at him puzzled and he only nods. I want to ask more questions but I also know that they won’t be answered. With our course altered, we fly south towards the Mediterranean.

I don’t know it at the time but I am witnessing history in the making. Overwatch’s founding, the rise of one of our age’s greatest heroes and the fall of so many that will be lost in obscurity. This is the beginning of the end of the omnic crisis, and what shapes me into what I have become.

I focus on the orange sky ahead of me and listen to the idle chatter of my precious cargo, unaware of the importance of the role I will play.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m the only one posting in the Crysis section right now.  
> Much sadness...


End file.
